Tag: diy
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DIY Udder Balm for Goats or Cows
When you have a milk-producing goat or cow, their udders might get a lot of work. They can get sore or irritated, so it’s handy to be able to have a balm to soothe them on hand in case this happens. However, unfortunately, most storebought balms are petroleum-based and expensive, and, if you live in…
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Cheap Bio Ethanol Fuel at Home (Video)
This is something I’ve always heard about and wanted to try. It’s pretty amazing how cheap the ingredients are to do it, and any homesteader might find the idea appealing, if you’ve got equipment that could be modified to be fueled with bio-ethanol fuel. Check it out! I’m pretty impressed. If you liked this, you…
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22 Ways to Use Beeswax
Beeswax is amazing. It is the only naturally occurring wax, and is produced in special wax glands of female honeybees. It takes 8 pounds of honey to produce 1 pound of wax! Vegetable waxes are rendered from fruit or leaves, while soy and paraffin waxes are produced by a toxic chemical process. Only beeswax is…
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Super Simple DIY Body Wash
I thought I’d seen all the DIY replacements for ordinary personal hygiene items out there, but this one was new to me, and I knew I had to try it right away. Bodywash is kind of a modern, Western thing, for plenty of people a simple bar of soap is sufficient to get clean in…
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DIY $5 Funnel Solar Oven (Video)
I love off-grid cooking of all kind, and a solar oven is something I’ve been wanting to make for a long time. I always thought that it was fairly expensive to make, but this guy made one for only $5. It’s amazing how much you can cook in one, and it is the most bare-bones…
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Homemade Dish Soap Recipe
I love to DIY everything, but dish soap is something I’ve had trouble with in the past. It always streaks on dishes, doesn’t lather, or leaves a horrible film that’s difficult to remove. However, I really hate buying dish soap from the store, because if it’s not super expensive, it usually contains harmful chemicals. Even…
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Beer for the Garden
Beer isn’t just great for the gardener after a hard day’s work, it’s also great for the health of your garden. One way to put this beverage to work for you is to use it to attract and to kill slugs that can damage your crops and even spread disease. Here’s how to use household items…
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Curing Bacon, Step by Step (Video)
Who doesn’t love bacon? One thing I love even more than bacon is seeing processes like curing meat, so this video was fascinating to me. One of my favorite YouTubers, Down South Homestead, wanted to show their viewers how they cure their own bacon. I’ve always wondered what the exact process would look like since…
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DIY Budget Grow Box
I am personally not a fan of trying to grow plants indoors on in any other artificial and costly setup, but having a grow box doesn’t have to be expensive. You can have a grow box that allows you to get your seeds started safely inside 6 weeks prior to the last frost in your…
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Mason Jar Aquaponics (Infographic)
I shared an infographic recently on the benefits of aquaponics, and I came across this the other day that I thought was really neat, and super easy to create. It is a very simple DIY mason jar aquaponics set-up. Obviously, you’re not going to be growing tons of your own food this way, but I…
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How to Make Homemade Almond Extract
I love DIY everything, and extracts are surprisingly easy. At the store, extracts for baking and flavoring foods can be surprisingly expensive, especially if you’d like organic or natural extracts of any kind. Almond extract is great to have for baking of all kind as the subtly sweet flavor of almonds makes for delicious cakes and cookies. The…
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Food for Healing (Inforgraphics)
I am a huge fan of using food for natural remedies and anything DIY. Not only does it save a bunch of money to use natural remedies made with food, but it’s most often much healthier and with more readily available healing properties than the over-the-counter alternative. I’m often recommending food items for DIY natural…
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DIY Starter Log
Starting a fire, even in a fireplace or a wood burning stove takes time, time and kindling. It’s much more convenient to use a starter log. But starter logs cost about $5 a piece, and that quickly adds up in the winter. This video demonstrates how to make starter logs yourself, from material and tools…
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Dollar Store First Aid Supplies
It’s really important to keep a well-stocked first aid kit on the homestead. Scrapes, scratches, and bruises are common, and you also might live far away from a medical clinic or hospital and will need to tend to more serious wounds or illnesses yourself at times. There are a multitude of pre-made first aid kits…
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DIY Scrap Mouse Trap
Mice can be a real problem, this time of year they aren’t satisfied with staying outside. This means that they will bring all of their diseases with them, if you let them. Exterminators can be expensive, and traps can too. My favorite store bought trap is the igloo-like electric trap, and that can cost as…
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DIY Calamine Lotion
If you’ve ever had poison ivy, poison oak, hives, or any other kind of severe skin irritation that causes itching, you’ll know just how soothing calamine lotion can be. I always thought it was something specific, but it turns out the ingredients will probably be pretty familiar to you if you have a basic natural…
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Natural Antibiotics That Are Better Than a Perscription
This time of year there are all kinds of bugs in the air, and you’re bound to get sick sooner or later. A lot of people will rush right to the doctor to get antibiotics if they suspect an infection, and antibiotics certainly are amazing miracles of modern medicine. But they can also be harmful…
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Rope Making (Video)
When it comes to homesteading, I love plotting and planning for as much self-reliance as possible. And a huge part of that includes supplies. I love to see how other people make their own supplies, and this rope-making video is pretty cool. They have a pretty cool little contraption that wouldn’t be to difficult to…
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Seed Tape
At $3 or more per packet, seeds can be one of the primary costs of gardening, especially if you are starting a new garden or expanding the crops you are growing. To some extent, it is an unavoidable cost, but all too often seeds are wasted and the cost of your garden grows needlessly. …
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How to Make Fermented Chicken Feed
Us humans love fermented food. It’s not just kombucha and sauerkraut for hippies, most of us eat fermented food in the form of beer, wine, cheese, yogurt, vinegar, pickles and sourdough and levain-style artisan breads, which are all fermented when traditionally made. I’m a big fan of fermentation because not only are most fermented foods…
